The night after the PFA awards, with Aaron Ramsey arguably the most unfortunate name not to make the Premier League team of the season, the midfielder took up position rampaging indefatigably in the gaping stretch of grass between the two boxes. The energy he brings seems to be infectious. There is renewed verve in Arsenal's midfield, with Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil playing with smiles on their faces and ideas in their boots. What a visible difference it makes.

It is obvious how keenly his team have missed him. It appears not to be a coincidence that the standout performer of Arsenal's season has been in situ when they have strung together a sequence of results – and was on the treatment table as they floundered. Back in the groove, he was instrumental in helping his team reach the FA Cup final and has picked up duties as the oil in the engine as Arsenal settled into the kind of form that makes them favourites to finish in the top four ahead of Everton.

Arsène Wenger touched on the quality he brings, by referencing a particular kind of power he gives that is not really about muscles or sheer brawn. "Aaron gives us great power," he wrote in the match programme.

"Not in the sense of his physicality necessarily but the power in his runs, box to box. Power can be how quickly you get to one box with the ball and how quickly you get back to the other one without it. He can produce that. And with the inclusion of Mesut's proven quality to our play, it makes us a much more powerful force."

There was a moment half an hour in that summed up exactly what Wenger was driving at. Newcastle were rocking, having just conceded, and Lukas Podolski forced a smart save from Tim Krul. The ball rebounded to Ramsey, who smashed a shot with such force it ricocheted straight into a Newcastle break. He burst back downfield, a 50-yard lung-busting sprint, to dispossess the opposition. It was as if Ramsey was armed with industrial-strength Duracell, while Newcastle looked desperately in need of a recharge.

Cazorla looks able to shine again. Until recently the Spaniard had looked weary and overburdened. The strain of trying to inspire a team who were drained and short of confidence looked heavy for him but he sparkled, clearly lifted to look up and see movement, options and space to dart into.

It was his set-piece that broke Newcastle's resistance. His free-kick looped up and down like a wedge shot and Laurent Koscielny galloped in to prod past Krul. The French centre-half was elated and thumped the ball into the upper tier by means of tension-releasing celebration. He accepted the booking he received as a minor price to pay.

Breathing space arrived before half-time as Olivier Giroud had the freedom of the penalty area and twice aimed straight at Krul. Özil supplied the ruthlessness when the move ended up at his feet. There were some wonderful flashes from him and with Wenger predicting that he can be a contender in the player of the year listings next season, it is easy to see why Arsenal's manager might still be prevaricating over a new contract.

However challenging this campaign has been at times, he has enormous faith in the raw material embodied in Özil, Ramsey and one or two of the others who have been lost to the eternal injury list, as with Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere.

A penny for his thoughts as Ramsey and Özil combined sweetly to unstitch Newcastle midway through the seond half and lay it on a plate for Giroud.

What might have been? What might be? What can be done to enable this team to move from promising to convincing over a longer period? How can they build to make an impact on the big cheeses above them?

Revived now, enjoying their football again now, Newcastle were condemned to yet another defeat. "Alan Pardew, it's six in a row" bawled the travelling Geordies. Chalking up defeats has become an intolerable habit.

Just to rub it in, the home supporters even joined in. Pardew's first game in the discomfort of the dugout was not a pleasant experience.

For Wenger, who has endured agonising moments of his own this season, a relaxing evening that goes a long way to preserving their Champions League status before a trip to Wembley can make for a happy ending to this strange chapter of his career.